Spiffy:

Iffy:

Lack of "sunny" levels may surprise some fans; camera can be a problem; no multiplay.

When I fired up a preview copy of Namco's upcoming Pac-Man World 3 and realized that The Yellow One turned 25 this year, I couldn't help thinking about the day I hit that same quarter-century mark. More importantly, I couldn't help but think of the similarities between these two important milestones. Me and Pac-Man at 25: the shaved heads, the goofy grins, the penchant for walking around wearing boots and gloves, but no pants. I could go on for days with the uncanny coincidences, but I think I've already disclosed enough. Gamers will get a chance to celebrate the big 2-5 with this icon of gaming when Pac-Man World 3 hits the shelves in November. Developed by Blitz Games, it'll let you -- and Pac-Man -- save the world from an evil genius. And you'll do it all with no pants.

Just as in Pac-Man World 2 -- the debut of the series on multiple platforms -- where your job was to take down the evil Spooky, here your job is no less dire. The action begins as the P-Man is about to celebrate his big day -- friends, a cake, the works. Suddenly -- and without warning -- he's whisked away from the serenity that is Pac-Village and sent on a platforming adventure that'll put him in hot pursuit of a brilliant, but misguided mastermind named Erwin. It seems that Erwin has invented a machine that has somehow bridged the world of the ghosts and the real world. And faster than you can say "portal to hell," Pac-Man finds himself in the middle of an inter-dimensional adventure.

If you played Pac-Man's last go-round, you'll have no trouble getting your yellow roundness on in episode three. The basic control scheme for punching, jumping, butt-bouncing, and rolling is identical. Now, though, you can also take advantage of some new moves. You'll be able to climb fences, jump up walls, and do complex swinging and punching combos. (Apparently, Pac-Man spent the three years since his last game watching plenty of Jackie Chan and Jet Li flicks.) In addition to the slick new moves, you'll also have an arsenal of funky power-ups to dip into. These will give you extra strength, the power to slow down time, and the ability to pull of a Super Butt Bounce.

You'll need all this newfound ability to tackle the game's many levels. There were over a dozen levels listed in the preview build I bounced through -- although some of them I didn't have access to. What struck me wasn't so much the variety of environments you have to make your way through, but the somewhat eerie and dark nature of them. While much of Pac-Man World 2 was played out in the lush and sunny outlying areas of Pac-Village, here almost all of the action takes place in slightly creeped-out, almost post-apocalyptic settings. The tone of the game remains light -- we're not talking Pac-Man: The Dark Knight Returns here -- but the look of the game may surprise some gamers who like to do their fruit-gobbling and trinket-hunting in more traditional and upbeat platforming environs.